1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to backpack stoves and more specifically to ultra light stoves that are self-pressurizing during operation.
2. Prior Art
It is known to have backpacking stoves, small and compact. These stoves are functional for the purpose for which they were designed, however, there remains a need for a simple but ultra light stove for the backpacking enthusiast seeking to minimize his or her backpack weight but requiring a stove that will generate intense heat.
The most popular ultralight stoves are alcohol stoves. The fuel is readily available and they are simple to build from aluminum cans and other readily available parts. Alcohol stoves can be grouped into three types: Open Flame; Open Jet; and Closed Jet stoves. As connoted by its name, the open flame stove comprises exposed alcohol ignited for heat. Open Jet stoves can be made from a cut-down beverage can with a top half inserted into a bottom half with overlapping side walls and are extremely light at a mere 0.3 ounces. Fuel is poured into the can through an open filler hole and ignited to heat the fuel, which causes the alcohol in the can to vaporize and shoot out small holes in the rim of the stove as flame jets that resemble a gas range. The closed jet stove is similar to the open jet stove except its filler hole is closed before ignition, or the filler hole may not exist if the stove is filled through several small holes in its top. The stove is initialized by a small amount of alcohol poured into a base around the can that causes the alcohol in the can to vaporize and build pressure. As with open jet stoves, closed jet stoves have a series of jets on the outer rim through which vaporized alcohol escapes and is vaporized into flames, which may also double as the filler holes. Heat generated from the flame jets heats the can, which in turn heats the alcohol within to sustain stove operation.
Advantages of these ultralight stoves are clear. They are very simple and require no maintenance and their simplicity allows them to be very light, in the range of an ounce or less. They are also very quiet.
However, the heat they generate is limited by the rate of self-generated heat conducted back to the liquid fuel contained within the stove. Because the conduction is limited to conduction through the container and radiation back to the stove from a pan on the stove, the rate of fuel consumption is not high and so the heat generated is consequently not high.
It is an object of the present invention to present a stove with pressure within the fuel reservoir self-generated by heat conducted through heat conduits heated directly by flames of burning fuel from the reservoir. It is a further object that fuel not burn within the reservoir but only upon exiting jet holes in the reservoir to better use and focus heat. It is a further object that the stove ignite without the use of an outside heater, such as fuel burning in a base about the reservoir.